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A domain name is a mnemonic for an internet address, that is to say a long string of numbers that identifies a website, mailbox or other resource. Since they are used to identify businesses, government departments, international agencies, universities and other institutions they can be very valuable assets. They can be registered for one or more years for a few pounds, euro or dollars without extensive checks or formalities on a first come first served basis.

Those who apply to register domain names have to warrant and represent to their domain name registrar that they are entitled to register those names in their registration agreements. They are also required to agree to refer any complaint by a trade mark or other intellectual property right owner that they are not so entitled to a form of alternative dispute resolution ("ADR").

There are a number of policies for such dispute resolution. Disputes relating to generic top level domain names - that is to say…

"James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness; the report of my death was an exaggeration." (Mark Twain)

There are four reasons for not giving up hope completely all of which have arisen since my last article:-The Privy Council made The Unified Patent Court (Immunities and Privileges) Order 2018 SI 1988 No 184 on 8 Feb 2018 which clears the way for British Ratification of the agreement. We now have a wide measure of agreement on t…

Accelerators are a way of helping new businesses to establish themselves. They are short programmes that last between 4 and 12 months in which groups of entrepreneurs known as "cohorts" refine their business plans and are given the skills, knowledge and connections they need to succeed. NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) published a research paper and directory of accelerators and incubators last year which I discussed in Business Incubators and Accelerators Directory20 April 2017 NIPC News.
On 22 April 2017 I discussed the Accelerators and Incubators in the Leeds City Regionin IP Yorkshire and on the 24 I considered those in Sheffield in Accelerators and Incubators in the Sheffield City Region. I also mentioned a new fintech accelerator in Dubai inFinTech in Dubai 3 Aug 2017 in NIPC Gulf.
Since a lot of inventors fail because they lack the skills and connections needed to convert their inventions into …

Why the GDPR is important
The regulation will come into force simultaneously in all 28 member states of the European Union including the United Kingdom on the 25 May 2018. It will repeal the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EU) which was transposed into English and Welsh as well as Scottish and Northern Irish law by the Data Protection Act 1998. Although the GDPR will eventually cease to be part of our law either when we leave the EU on 29 March 2019 or at the end of any transition or implementation period that may come into effect immediately after our exit, its provisions are likely to be prese…

This month's Brexit briefing focuses on the publication by the European Commission of a draft agreement for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and the Euratom. Although it has not yet been presented to the British government and there has already been some grumbling from the PM and others it is unlikely to be rejected out of hand. There were some welcome signs of pragmatism in the PM's speech at the Mansion House on 2 March 2018.
There were also some crumbs of comfort for the ratification of the UPC Agreement and perhaps even continued British participation in the Court after Brexit. Read more

Inventors, entrepreneurs and others setting up in business can obtain free digital training online or from a Google Digital Garage in Birmingham, Manchester and Sheffield. Yesterday I visited the Google Digital Garage in Manchester and wrote about it in Visit to Manchester's Google Digital Garage6 March 2018 IP North West.

Yesterday was also the death of the well-known inventor, Trevor Baylis CBE. Commiserations to his family, friends and connections.